Computer systems vary to a large degree, but a common trait shared by user-based computer systems is the ability to receive information from a user, manipulate it somehow, and present the information back to the user. Generally speaking the information presented to the user by the computer system varies based upon the information provided by the user as input. This input information comes in many forms. It may be nothing more than a double click with a pointing device or it may amount to pages and pages of typewritten text for a paper or a book. In some cases it is important for the user to format the information in a specific way. For example, a computer user who sets a password or who submits a database query must take care to ensure that the input information follows a particular format. If care is not taken, the user password will not be set or the database query will not be valid. This patent involves how a computer system provides feedback to a user when receiving information that has been formatted incorrectly.
Present day feedback mechanisms do inform the user of the improperly formatted password. More sophisticated mechanisms may even be specific about the particular rule that has been violated. The problem, though, is that passwords, like many format-specific items, often have format requirements involving several different rules, and the rules may vary depending upon anticipated uses. For example, a password may be valid on for one resource, but not for another. This means, of course, that the user is told only that there is a format problem, or in the best case that there is a specific formatting problem, but the user is not told whether other formatting rules have been violated. The user, then, may correct one formatting problem only to learn later that the solution to the first problem causes one or more errors relative to other formatting requirements. Naturally, this can make for a very frustrating experience for the user.
Without a way to better inform users regarding formatting problems, user frustration regarding format-specific information entry will persist.